The pdate U Centre for the Humanities

The Update
Centre for the Humanities
Juni 2010
In this issue: > What is human about the humanities (p.1) > Autumn 2010 at the CfH (p.2) > Cosmopolitanism, Peace and Conflict (p.3)
> Intense Encounters (p.3) > Postsecular Meets Postcolonial at the CfH (p.4) > Simon Critchley visited CfH (p.4) > Salons on Live &
Liveness (p.5) > Introducing the CfH Advisory Board (p.5) > Revisiting Cosmopolitanism (p.6) > Experimental Humanities (p.7) > Filming
Science (p.8) > CfH’s Spring Calender (p.8)
What is Human about the Humanities?
The key question for the CfH in the autumn semester 2010 is: ‘What is Human
about the Humanities?’ The Humanities are approached within this project
as a supra-disciplinary field and the activities organized accordingly. We shall
attempt to provide a comparative perspective on the implicit assumptions
about and explicit efforts at constructing an acceptable vision of ‘the human’
within the discourse of the Humanities. The historical component of this project
will be implemented in a series of seminars about scientific practices and
epistemology held in cooperation with the Descartes Centre.
This academic project also contains a civic
dimension. An enduring concern for the CfH
remains the project of providing a critical
historical perspective about the role of the
Humanities in educating citizens. This includes
a comparative analysis of different traditions of
humanism and the way debates and practices
about the Humanities curriculum interact within
Europe and between Europe and the rest of the
world. If it is still the case that the Humanities are
schooling citizens in their fundamental duties
and responsibilities, this aim has to be reset and
assessed in the context of globalization and
of globalized cultures. The question is also
raised about the extent to which the increasing
economic pressure that is placed on the
Humanities to meet the requirements of the
market economy is compatible with the civic
responsibilities of academic institutions and
their humanist vision.
The central focus on the analysis of the multiple
constructions of the human within the
Humanities will also unfold into the study of the
role the Humanities play in shaping public
perceptions of the human today. As an effect of
our globalized, technologically mediated and
ethnically diverse world, the consensus as to
what counts as the basic unit of reference for the
human is shifting rapidly. It is consequently urgent
to explore not only the intersections between the
Humanities and Sciences but also the Humanities’
commitment to their social reality. We need not
only an active dialogue, but also new forms of
interaction between them; priority is given
accordingly to the exploration of issues that are of
burning urgency today. They will be implemented
in the project: ‘The Humanities in the 21st
Century’, which concentrates on:
the environmental humanities, engaged in the
discussion on climate change and the ecological
crisis; the digital humanities, within the
informational and communication technologies;
cognition and the neural sciences and the
bio-genetic construction of something that we
could call the ‘post-human predicament’. In this
discussion the human is studied in relation to
its anthropological others – in a perspective
informed by gender, ethnicity and post-colonial
studies. It will also be read alongside its non
human others – animals, plants and other species.
Moreover, in view of the growing degree of
inhumanity displayed in world affairs today, the
CfH will pursue its work on the issue of Human
Rights and of Humanitarianism in general and
continue to organize activities around them,
in co-operation with the Law Faculty and the
University for Humanistic Studies. This expresses
our shared commitment as an academic
community to engage with the notion of the
human, in the sense of human values,
humanitarian intervention and the design of
sustainable human futures. As ever our work
aims at contributing to developing ideas on
issues of sustainable change in society.
Rosi Braidotti
(Director of the Centre for the Humanities)
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A meeting of critic a
Autumn 2010
at the CfH
Once again the CfH-staff has prepared an
amazing autumn activities programme.
At the heart of this upcoming programme
is the CfH’s secretariat. This is where all the
organisational and logistical preparations
are gathered and juggled. So who better
to provide a preview of all the activities the
CfH has in store for this autumn than its
secretary Cornelie Vermaas?
What is happening this autumn at the CfH?
Well, right now I am working on the logistics of
the recurring visitors. We are very proud to have
Etienne Balibar, Paul Gilroy and Luisa Passerini
revisit the CfH in September. All three of them
will be giving at least one public lecture and two
seminars each and as last year a number of lucky
students will be selected to participate in special
master-classes.
Cosmopolitanism, P
At the dawn of 2010, the Centre for
the Humanities was happy to host the
Erasmus Life Long Learning funded
Intensive Programme entitled
‘Cosmopolitanism, Peace and Conflict’ the first edition of its brand new threeyear winter school, Utrecht School of
Critical Theory.
Flocking to Utrecht from all over advanced
research master students and PhD’s attended
this three-week intensive programme.
The IP provided a varied and multidisciplinary
programme taught by renowned
international scholars. This year’s teachers
included, amongst others, Prof. Judith Butler
(Berkeley), Prof. Patrick Hanafin (Birkbeck
University London), Dr. Sarah Bracke
(Catholic University Leuven) and from
The other prominent item revolves around the
activities we are now finalising for the Treaty of
Utrecht Chair in the autumn, which of course
features the inaugural lecture by Peter Galison
in November (see also p. 8). During this visit
Professor Galison will also be engaging in
two seminars and a full day on film and science.
This autumn however we will also have the
privilege of welcoming the second Chair for
2010 - whose name I cannot disclose yet.
What other insider tip could you give the
readers of this summer edition of the
UPDATE?
I would like to advise everyone to check out our
new and improved website at www.uu.nl/cfh for
a complete overview of our autumn programme.
What I have mentioned here are really just the
highlights of our autumn programme and there
is a lot still to come. The CfH will also be
welcoming Saba Mahmood back to Utrecht, and
will organise the final seminar in the network
between Helsinki Collegium for Advanced
Studies, POLIS at London School of Economics
(LSE) and the CfH on Cosmopolitanism, Identity
and Media. This seminar will take place at the
LSE though. We hope to see many of our readers
at some – or ALL – of these events.
Utrecht University Prof. Ido de Haan,
Dr. Jolle Demmers, Dr. Bald de Vries and
INTERVIEW
Intense Encounters
Students traveled from all over the
world to meet in Utrecht and participate
in the Utrecht School of Critical Theory
2010. To Viviana Vignola (PhD semiotics,
University of Bologna) the experience
was one of open and sincere interaction.
Why did you decide to apply to the Utrecht
School of Critical Theory?
I received an e-mail from my PhD coordinator
at the University of Bologna in which she
recommended the programme. The line-up
looked amazing and since I did not know a lot
about critical theory, the School seemed to the
perfect chance to get a thorough crash course in
this field of studies. Moreover, the title of the
School really caught my attention because it
implies that the programme is not merely about
theories on cosmopolitanism, but about current
problems that affect and concern all of Europe.
How is the IP related to your own research
and interest?
What was highly interesting for me was the way
2
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c al minds: Intensive Programme 2010
Peace and Conflict
Utrecht University, January 25 - February 12, 2010
CfH’s own Prof. Rosi Braidotti.
conflict studies students. Because of this
The latter resulted in a series of posters that
Set in a freezing cold and snow covered
we ended up approaching questions and
showed the students’ original and reflexive
Utrecht, the IP was attended by an
dilemmas differently. The exchanges with the
insights on Utrecht as a space of diversity, and
enthusiastic and eager group of international
other teaching staff brought new ideas
was festively presented during the IP’s finale
students from all over Europe and beyond.
as well--inspiring! I am still in contact with a
at the City Hall.
With a strong team of academics as its driving
number of students and staff.”
force, the IP offered its participants a platform
The first edition of the Intensive Programme
to discuss and exchange knowledge, ideas
Three different clusters - each of which
of the Utrecht School of Critical Theory
and experiences on issues of cosmopolitanism
approached these central themes from a
has proven to be an intense and greatly
and/or diversity from different angles and
different perspective - structured the three
inspiring experience to all parties involved.
fields of study.
weeks of the programme: “Populism and
By bringing together academics and students
anti-cosmopolitanism in Europe today”,
of diverse backgrounds and nationalities,
This is confirmed by Jolle Demmers’ response
“Frames of War” and “Legal Theory and
‘Cosmopolitanism, Peace and Conflict’
when asked how the experience of teaching
Cosmopolitics”.
introduced an innovative IP that offers
and general involvement in the IP impacts
Besides an academic programme consisting
talented students the unique chance
her work at the Centre for Conflict Studies?
of daily morning lectures and in-depth
to meet, learn, exchange and interact.
“I feel it is very refreshing to cross disciplinary
afternoon seminars, the IP contained a social
To be continued …
boundaries and vocabularies: the IP students
programme during evenings and weekends
-although coming from a variety of
and a practical assignment developed
Lianne Toussaint
backgrounds -- shared much more of a truly
and executed in close cooperation with the
(IP coordinator CfH)
‘humanities’ profile compared to my ‘own’
Utrecht City Council.
different countries were compared and
willing to answer our questions. This didactic
engaged international students. The group
discussed with regards to their migration
approach caused us to feel part of the course
and its collective experience of the School
policies. In Italy, the media have constructed
instead of being a passive audience, which
made us feel like a kind of family with
an image of the immigrant as the enemy,
I highly appreciated and consider a great
members that share knowledge, standpoints,
causing large groups to be excluded and
example. It taught us to reframe books and
information and experiences. The programme
discriminated. By learning about migration
theories, by stimulating a reflexive and critical
made me realize that I am part of an
issues in other countries, with special
stance towards their content. Furthermore,
international web of academic knowledge
attention to the Dutch case, I was able to get a
I consider the interdisciplinary approach
and stimulated and inspired me to look
more critical and transnational insight into
a surprisingly valuable aspect of the
beyond the framework I normally function in.
this topic. Moreover, I found that the focus on
programme, since it introduced me to
the Dutch case during the first week and the
perspectives, theories and fields of study that
practical assignment that urged us to engage
I would never have thought of applying to
with the City of Utrecht and its locals, really
my own research before.
connected the programme to the location it
was set in.
What did you think of the content and form
of the School?
Well, it was even better that expected! I was
impressed by the scholars involved and
especially by the open and sincere way they
interacted with us as students. It was totally
new for me that renowned academics, such as
Professor Butler, were so accessible and
When looking back at the School,
how would you describe your overall
experience?
It has been a very intense and intensive period
that gave me many suggestions, insights and
starting points for my own research. The
programme was inspiring, spectacular and
enriching on both an academic and social
level, leading to many new friends all over the
world and an unique network of critical and
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Postsecular Meets Postcolonial at the CfH
This spring the flagship of the CfH, the lecture series Concerning the Postsecular,
has formulated targets in terms of depth, synergy and publication.
Concerning the Postsecular has run as a constant
feature of the CfH’s activities since the very
beginning of the CfH’s work. This year the CfH
team turned the attention to the intersection
between the postsecular and the postcolonial
in order to investigate issues of postsecularity
in Europe from a challenging new perspective
and in order to bring into the discussion a larger
contemporary political debate about European
identity and culture. We were therefore
delighted to welcome the Goddard Professor
of Media, Culture and Communication at the
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and
Human Development, New York University,
Arjun Appadurai to Utrecht in June.
Depth
In order to achieve discussions on a deeper level
Concerning the Postsecular is trying out a
restructured format. This means that instead of
lectures by one speaker, the CfH invites speakers
to give a lecture and/or a seminar in a close
working atmosphere. In the case of the visit by
Professor Arjun Appadurai, which was jointly
organised with the Department of Social
Anthropology, we set up an intense meeting
between Professor Appadurai and a range of
Dutch scholars in the field. The convener of the
event, Professor of Social Anthropology at
Utrecht University and Fellow at the CfH, Patrick
Eisenlohr, invited accomplished Dutch scholars
such as Peter van der Veer, Birgit Meyer and
Martijn Oosterbaan to engage in a roundtable
discussion. The result was a day of powerful and
focused discussions at a very high scholarly level.
Faculty-level the CfH continues to cooperate
with the departments of Social Anthropology
and of Theology at Utrecht University, as well as
the Graduate Gender Programme. Concerning
the Postsecular is a truly interdisciplinary and
cross-Faculty lecture and seminar series.
Publications
Finally, the team at CfH has begun preliminary
work on a publication which will present and
highlight lectures and discussions from the
preceding years. The lecture series Concerning
the Postsecular has generated a fountain of
insights in the more than three years it has been
running as the flagship of the CfH’s activities.
With this publication we hope to assemble and
publish these insights and reflections along with
new ones in an edited volume.
Bolette Blaagaard (Academic co-ordinator CfH)
Synergy
In order to achieve synergy of competencies at
Waiting for the political moment:
Simon Critchley visited CfH
Political philosopher Simon Critchley visited the Centre for the Humanities in
mid-June when the CfH hosted the conference Waiting for the Political Moment,
convened by CfH fellow Bram Ievens and Frans-Willem Korsten of Erasmus
University Rotterdam. The conference took place partly in Utrecht and partly in
Rotterdam, and besides Critchley in Utrecht the conference featured lectures
by Rosi Braidotti and Alberto Toscano in Rotterdam.
The aim of the conference was to investigate the
indelible cultural, aesthetic and historical input
that shape the political moment. To this aim the
conference moreover gathered forty scholars
and artists that engaged in discussion with each
other during research seminars in Utrecht and
Rotterdam.
Infinitely Demanding
Simon Critchley is Professor and Chair of
Philosophy at the New School University as well
as a widely read cultural critic whose essays are
published in The New York Times, Harper’s, The
London Review of Books, The Guardian and
many other magazines. In one of his most recent
books, Infinitely Demanding: Ethics of
Commitment, Politics of Resistance, Critchley
develops a political philosophy that revolves
around ‘the anarchic moment of democratic
dissensus.’ Elaborating on each of these terms
and providing them with a fresh meaning,
Critchley tries to think what the political means
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today. In his public lecture at Utrecht he
elaborated further on this theme and in the
context of the political moment.
Critchley’s lecture was followed by a
performance by the Lebanese artist Rabih Mroué
(in cooperation with BAK). Mroué gave a
lecture-performance called “The Inhabitants of
Images.” Consisting of three parts, this
performance presented an enactment and
critical analysis of the use and misuse of images
for political purposes in Lebanon and the Middle
East. In addition, the afternoon programme in
Utrecht focused on the historical development
of the political moment with lectures by Martin
van Gelderen, Frans-Willem Korsten, and
Helmar Schramm.
Rotterdam Followed
After this kick-off in Utrecht, the conference
continued in Rotterdam. Here the participants
gathered at Wolf Art Project Spaces, located in
the politically turbulent district of Rotterdam
South. Director of the CfH and philosopher Rosi
Braidotti presented a public lecture as did
Alberto Toscano. Rotterdam also hosted
research seminars with Bruno Bosteels, Patchen
Markell, Benjamin Noys, and others. The artistic
programme in Rotterdam was organised by
Katarina Zdjelar and featured artists such as
Petra Brauer, Lene Berg, Dan Kidner, and Ine
Lamers. For more information on the conference
please visit the website:
http://www.waitingforthepoliticalmoment.org
Besides the CfH, the event was sponsored by
Stichting Letteren Rotterdam, Erasmus Trust
Fund, Erasmus University Rotterdam, OGC, BAK,
Wolf Art Project Spaces.
Bram Ievens (Utrecht University, Fellow of CfH)
June 2010
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Salons on Live & Liveness
A new initiative of the Centre for the Humanities in collaboration with
Springdance Festival and Theatre Studies at UU.
Utrecht is the festivals city in the Netherlands
and distinguishes itself internationally by
constantly seeking to renew and explore the
boundaries between different brands of the
contemporary arts. The Centre for the
Humanities is the interdisciplinary centre of
excellence at Utrecht University and it also aims
to strengthen the ties between the University
and the City. The Festival Fellowships
programme is an ideal way to do this.
perspective of dance history), Nanna Verhoeff
(from the perspective of media theory) and
Daniel Almgren Recen and Bojana Mladenovic,
who recently created a new dance performance
(I Live) based on Van Manen’s Live. During the
second Salon, we welcomed Adrian Heathfield
as the very first CFH Creative Festival Fellow.
Heathfield is Professor of Performance and
Visual Culture, Roehampton University and
former president of Performance Studies
international. He is also a curator of
performance and organizer of numerous events.
Heathfield elaborated the transformation of
space through the use of video projection in Live
as well as relationships between Live and several
more recent dance and installation works.
During the third Salon, Maaike Bleeker (Theatre
Studies, UU) expanded on Heathfield’s
observations on the unfolding of space in Live
by means of a Deleuzian reading of this
performance.
The Salon programme was followed by a
performance of Live at the opening of the
Springdance festival. Unfortunately, the
eruption of the volcano in Iceland prevented
Heathfield from traveling to the Festival.
Therefore, several activities (including a lecture
by Heathfield and a public discussion with
Heathfield and Van Manen) are postponed to a
later date.
On January 15, March 10 and April 10, three
Salons brought together researchers from the
University, dance and performance makers,
students, and others interested, for a
collaborative exploration of questions of liveness
and mediatization in relation to contemporary
dance. These Salons were organized around a
Festival Creative Fellowship made possible by
the Centre for the Humanities, and worked
towards a special programme during
Springdance.
Maaike Bleeker (Utrecht University, Fellow of
the CfH)
Starting point was Dutch choreographer Hans
van Manen’s seminal creation Live. First
performed in 1979, Live presents an early
example of the use of live video projection on
stage. We began our first Salon with a screening
of a recording of Live, followed by short
presentations by Eva van Schaik (from the
Live by Hans van Manen, Het Nationale Ballet
(dancer: Igone de Jongh).
Photo by Angela Sterling
Introducing the CfH Advisory Board
The Advisory Board consists of five people,
whose role it is to advise the Director on future
policies and current programmes. To perform
that role, the Board covers the various research
components of the Utrecht Faculty of
Humanities. Sergey Avrutin is Professor of
Comparative Psycholinguistics. He represents
the Utrecht Institute for Linguistics UiL/OTS.
His research focuses on neuro- and
psycholinguistic issues of language acquisition
and language impairment. He was awarded the
prestigious NWO Pionier grant in 2000, allowing
him to launch a major project on childrens’
versus adults’ knowledge of language, and on
the effects of brain impairment on language
function. Marcus Düwell was appointed
Professor of Philosophical Ethics in Utrecht in
2001, after being educated in Germany. His
research focuses on the foundation of morality
and on applied ethics in its relation to ethical
theory and political philosophy. He is the
Academic director of the Philosophy
Department, as well as of the Ethics Institute
at Utrecht University, and of the Netherlands
Research School for Practical Philosophy.
Annemarie Korte is Professor of Theology
& Gender, and represents the Theology
Department. She published extensively on
theological anthropology and on the role of
religion in processes of emancipation. She is
also a member of the Humanities Board of the
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
NWO. In its meetings she is likely to run into
Maarten Prak, who was appointed at the same
time in 2009. Maarten Prak has been professor
of Social and Economic History in Utrecht since
1992. He published about the Dutch Golden
Age, and is currently writing a book on
citizenship in Europe before the French
Revolution. Last but not least, Atie van Wijk MA,
a policy officer in the Dean’s Office, allows the
CfH Board to connect with the Faculty.
The Advisory Board of the CfH meets on average
twice a year to discuss a variety of issues. During
the latest meeting, on February 3, we looked at
the various programmes currently underway at
the CfH, and discussed at length how to fill the
“Treaty of Utrecht” rotating chair for the coming
years; this chair is hosted by the CfH. The
Advisory Board also explored new topics for the
future academic agenda of the CfH, but no firm
decisions have been made yet.
Maarten Prak (Chair of the CfH Advisory Board)
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Partners in the European Consortium for the
New Humanities
Belgium Department of Sociology Catholic
University, Leuven
Denmark Aarhus University
Finland Helsinki Collegium for Advanced
Studies, Helsinki
Greece English department, Thessaloniki
University
Italy Scuola Superiore di Studi Umanistici,
University of Bologna
Sweden Lunds University
Slovenia Department of Anthropology of
Gender, University of Ljubljana
Slovakia Department of Philosophy,
University of Bratislava
United Kingdom Institute for Advanced
Studies, University of Edinburgh
United Kingdom Department of Dutch/
Centre for Intercultural Studies, University
College London
United Kingdom Department of Media and
Communication, London School of Economics
United Kingdom Department of Social
Anthropology, University of Cambridge
United Kingdom Institute for the Humanities,
Birkbeck College, London
Board
Prof. Maarten Prak (Arts)
Prof. Marcus Duwell (Philosophy)
Prof. Anne Marie Korte (Theology)
Dr S. Avrutin (Linguistics)
Within Utrecht University Cfh Cooperates with
The Descartes Centre
The Research Institute for History and Culture
(OGC)
The Utrecht Institute for Linguistics (UiL OTS)
ZENO Research Institute for Philosophy
The Research Institute for Theology and
Religious Studies (INTEGON)
The Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance
The Department of Cultural Anthropology
and Sociology
The Netherlands Graduate School for Literary
Studies (OSL)
Focus and Massa Research Areas:
s Brain, Cognition and Behaviour
s Conflicts and Human Rights
s Cultures and Identities
s History and Philosophy of the Sciences
and the Humanities
s Origins and Impacts of Institutions
Within Civil Society CfH Cooperates with
Vrede van Utrecht
City Council Utrecht
Province of Utrecht
BAK, Basis voor Actuele Kunst Utrecht
Revisiting Cosmopolitanism
The CfH directed its attention once more to the concept of cosmopolitanism
when hosting a highly successful and stimulating two day conference on
“The Idea of Cosmopolitanism: Interdisciplinary Dialogues” 3-4 December 2009.
The conference welcomed a range of widely known and renowned scholars
from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States
(see full list below).
The conference examined the renewal of interest
in cosmopolitanism as an area of academic
enquiry in recent years. In particular it
examined the development of a new critical
cosmopolitanism which questions the
contemporary political order, looking primarily
at cosmopolitanisms linked to postcolonial
struggles, subaltern studies, and cultural
difference. The discussions looked at
a number of themes concerning this revived
interest. Firstly, at the manner in which ideas
of cosmopolitanism and the processes of
multidimensional globalisation intersected and
how such a conjuncture required a renewed
understanding of cosmopolitanism itself.
Secondly, the papers presented at the
conference also argued that sharper and more
grounded distinctions be drawn between
globalisation – as a process – and
cosmopolitanism as a concept. This allows
one to deal with the problematic side effects of
globalisation. The creation of a critical public
sphere engaging and resisting a hegemonic
mode of global capital and military intervention
was also investigated during the conference.
Cosmopolitan Peace Treaty
Thirdly, the conference examined the
cosmopolitan moment of the signing of the
peace treaty between Spain, England, France
and the Low Countries in 1713 in the city of
Utrecht in order to explore the very particular
and localised issues of international law in a
historical perspective and in terms of the Treaty’s
impact today. The focus on the Treaty of Utrecht
allowed scholars working on the history of
international law and humanitarian legal
structures to speak to the anniversary of the
Treaty, and issues of tolerance and citizenship
in relation to cosmopolitanism were therefore
foregrounded. The conference also explored
ways in which cosmopolitanism could be
rethought from a postcolonial perspective and
challenged the traditional understanding of
the concept of cosmopolitanism as a common,
universal human morality by discussing the
concept through subaltern and other critical
discourse.
The conference was funded by and organised in
conjunction with the Leverhulme Trust funded
project “Between Cosmopolitanism and Empire:
Europe, Human Rights, Sovereignty”
(co-ordinated by Prof. Costas Douzinas and
Prof. Patrick Hanafin (Birkbeck Law School,
University of London).
Patrick Hanafin (School of Law, Birkbeck
University of London)
Professor Rosi Braidotti (Centre for the
Humanities, Utrecht University)
Professor Costas Douzinas (Birkbeck Institute
for the Humanities)
Professor Paul Schnabel (Institute for Social
Sciences, The Hague)
Dr. Bald de Vries (Law Faculty, Utrecht University)
Professor Patrick Hanafin (Birkbeck Law School)
Professor Sneja Gunew (Comapartive Literature,
University of British Columbia)
Profesor Eugene Holland (Centre for
Comparative Studies, Ohio State University)
Professor Pheng Cheah (Rhetoric, Berkeley,
University of California)
Professor Paul Gilroy (Sociology, LSE)
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Experimental Humanities
This Spring the Centre for the Humanities (CfH) launched another new activity
to implement its status as a Faculty-broad research platform which focuses on
the question of What is Human about the Humanities? The Humanities Labs,
the working title for this activity that almost immediately received a permanent
status as official title, are designed to offer a platform for experimental and
critical ideas about the social relevance of the Humanities in the 21st Century.
Within this interdisciplinary training programme two activities this spring
featured leading Utrecht University professors and were organised for an
academic and in part also civic audience.
The Humanities Lab was launched by an
introductory public lecture by Professor Paul
Schnabel that in turn launched a series of critical
interviews conducted by Professor Schnabel and
with leading players in the Dutch social and
academic arena.
Have the Dutch really transformed from a
progressive to a conservative nation?
This was the question that guided the public
lecture and interview series of Professor Paul
Schnabel. The public lecture, entitled The
Modern Conservative Netherlands, discussed
the changing political climate in the
Netherlands. Armed with statistics provided by
The Netherlands Institute for Social Research,
Professor Schnabel came to the eye-popping
conclusion that perhaps the Dutch are suffering
from hysteria! Professor Schnabel based this
claim on the fact that the SCP-statistics do not
support the general feeling of anxiety the Dutch
claim to experience.
The interview series was entitled The Dutch
Today – the same and yet different, and
continued the critical examination of the
political climate of the Netherlands today.
Prominent guests, such as Henriette Prast, who
is member of the WRR (Science Council for
Government Policy) and Professor of Personal
Financial Planning in the Faculty of Economics
and Business Administration at Tilburg
University, and Sadik Harchaoui, who is the
director of FORUM (Institute for Multicultural
Affairs) and Chair to the RMO (Board for Social
Development), Professor Schnabel explored the
changes in the Dutch political condition.
Professor Schnabel and guests continued to
ask the difficult question of What has changed
Dutch political and social mood?
Master classes with Spinoza Prize Winner
The second activity gave students of the
Humanities the great opportunity to be
mentored by a Spinoza Prize Winner. Professor
Frits van Oostrom provided a unique inside into
the Humanities Lab in master classes on How to
write a good dissertation and How to
communicate research results better. During
three master class sessions fifteen PhD students
and advanced research master students
presented and discussed their work with the
former president of the KNAW (Royal
Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences),
recipient of the AKO Literary Award, and of
course winner of the Spinoza Prize of the NWO
(Netherlands Organisation for Scientific
Research).
The master classes were jointly organised with
the Research Institute for History and Culture,
Utrecht University, (OGC)
Esther Rinkens (Executive Manager CfH)
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Filming Science
The 2010 Treaty of Utrecht Visiting Professor
Peter Galison, Joseph Pellegrino University
Professor at Harvard University, conducted a
much awaited inter-faculty seminar last March.
The topic was the examination of the theory and
practice of capturing scientific practice on film.
Appropriately, it took place among the old
scientific instruments and the state-of-the arts
digital equipment of the Universiteitsmuseum
on Lange Nieuwestraat. The theme was very
topical and included fictional, documentary and
other instruction films. The attendants had been
invited especially from several Dutch universities
and they covered a significant interdisciplinary
range: visual anthropology, media studies and
the history of science and gender with a focus on
methodological approaches.
Active fellows
Prof. Maaike Bleeker
Dr Sarah Bracke
Dr Jolle Demmers
Dr Rick Dolphijn
Prof. Ido de Haan
Maria Hlavajova
Prof. Ed Jonker
Dr Ann-Sophie Lehmann
Prof. Paulo de Medeiros
Dr Eva Midden
Dr Sandra Ponzanesi
Dr Iris van der Tuin
Prof. Peter van der Veer
Dr Bald de Vries
Prof. Berteke Waaldijk
Senior fellows
Prof. Hans van Ginkel
Prof. Frits van Oostrom
Prof. Paul Schnabel
Prof. Siep Stuurman
Recurrent Annual Visitors
Prof. Etienne Balibar (Paris-Nanterre-Irvine)
Prof. Paul Gilroy (London School of Economics)
Prof. Judith Butler (University of Berkeley)
Prof. Luisa Passerini (University of Turin)
Prof. Peter Galison (Harvard University)
Prof. Henrietta Moore (University of Cambridge)
Prof. Saba Mahmood (University of Berkeley)
Peter Galison’s work on visualization is
inspirational as he has a strong background in
theoretical physics and the history of science,
while being a successful film-maker as well. His
award-winning film, Secrecy, was shown in a
packed University Theatre as part of his
academic activity during this first visit to Utrecht.
Galison’s work emphasizes the processes of
construction of scientific truth as rigorously held
within disciplinary traditions, but he also sees
them as cultural phenomena and holds them
accountable to society at large. The seminar
traced the relationship between scientific
discoveries and visualization techniques and
linked them both to larger issues of public
accountability and social responsibility. From the
Atomic Energy Act of 1946 to the classification
of information today, a new system of control
of scientific information has produced over 100
different categories to control public access
to scientific documents. Professor Galison
illustrated his central arguments with a
combination of historical notions and well
selected visual illustrations from different
generations of science film-makers.
This approach is in keeping with Peter Galison’s
work on the historical development of
objectivity as an important factor that affects the
way we experience and imagine ourselves in
socio-political communities of knowledge and
in democratic societies. Through his emphasis
Professor Galison furthermore made
connections between the practice of science to
cultural and artistic experimentation and hence
made it accessible to a very broad audience.
We are happy to welcome back Professor Peter
Galison for his second visit to the Centre for the
Humanities in November.
Rosi Braidotti (Director of the Centre for the
Humanities) and Bolette Blaagaard (Academic
co-ordinator CfH)
CfH’s Autumn Calendar
Organisation
Social Sustainability and the Humanities
Director: Prof. Rosi Braidotti
Executive Manager: Esther Rinkens, MPhil
Academic coordinator:
Dr Bolette Benedictsen Blaagaard
Programme Coordinator Legacy of Colonialism
and Slavery Project: Dr Esther Captain
Secretary: Cornelie Vermaas
s Critical Legal Theory Conference
September 10-12
s Paul Gilroy Lectures & Master Classes
September 13-17
s Etienne Balibar Lectures & Master Classes
September 20-23
sLuisa Passerini Lectures & Master Classes
September 27-30
s Saba Mahmood Lecture
November 25-26
s Deleuze Seminars
dates to be announced
The Academic and the Civic
sWriters in Residence Lecture & Interview Series
Sept. 8; Oct. 5; Nov. 30; Dec. 9
sAdrian Heathfield Festival Fellowship Lecture
September 17-19
sTreaty of Utrecht Visiting Professor Peter Galison
November 17-23
The International Dimension
sIntensive Programme (IP)
January 17-February 4
Contact & Colofon
Centre for the Humanities, Utrecht University (CfH), Achter de Dom 20, 3512 JP Utrecht
Phone (030) 253 61 37, mon-thu (09.00-17.00), e-mail cfh@uu.nl, www.uu.nl/cfh
editors Bolette Blaagaard & Esther Rinkens design www.taluut.nl photos Wieke Eefting
printer Atlas Soest
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